The thing to remember as you take in designer April Gruber Shalev's Piedmont home also happens to be the biggest surprise of the whole story: The ambitious gut renovation of the mid-century dwelling she and her husband, Aric, purchased in 2010 was her first full-scale residential project - ever.

Previously, Shalev had been cutting her design chops at Palo Alto-based HKS Hill Glazier Studio, where she applied her architectural savvy to such luxury resorts as the Four Seasons Hualalai in Kona and the Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park. In light of her same-but-different expertise, the 1959 home's drastic transformation from dim, compartmentalized and carpeted (the horror!) to bright, open and well appointed seems, at least in Shalev's estimation, pretty remarkable.

"I found myself wondering if I could meet my own expectations," says Shalev, whose design goals included keeping true to the mid-century style and creating a comfortable nest for her two stepchildren, Max, 10, and Julia, 7. "When you design your family home, you have to live with your choices every day - in some ways, it's more difficult than being able to walk away."

Shalev, an architecture graduate of Cornell and UC Berkeley, also wore the general-contractor (hard) hat on the project, occupying the front lines during the wall extractions, pass-through expansions and door removals - the surgical procedures required to achieve that trademark of mid-century modern blueprints: an open floor plan.

"Hospitality design and mid-century design are not that far apart," says Shalev, who started her residential firm, AG Design Studio, in 2011. "Both put an emphasis on capturing sunlight and creating airy spaces using large windows and big openings."

At the back of the house, the formerly divided family room, kitchen and living room are now united as one generous great room. Tray ceilings (or rectangular "pop-ups," as Shalev describes them) were added to accentuate room heights, while new light wells allow more rays to beam into the home. Sliding barn doors, high scorers on the charm scale, take the place of traditional, and decidedly less appealing, '80s-era hollow-core hinged doors.

And instead of the entry only offering passage to the right (bedroom wing) or to the left (living room), the new and improved version now provides an option to march forward to the great room, lured by a view of the landscaped garden through a floor-to-ceiling aperture in the distance.

Indoor-outdoor merge

Merging indoor spaces with outdoor splendor is also a distinctly midcentury-modern strategy. Shalev subtly accomplishes this with interior finishes that are closely tied to nature. Earth-toned linen was the upholstery of choice for the contemporary furniture. Outmoded carpeted and parquet floors have been replaced with stunning wide-plank white oak. The new master bath's spacious wet room (think freestanding soaking tub, two showerheads, and enough square footage to house a small island nation) is lined with faux-bois ceramic tiles. A lofty treetop perspective provides a leafy-green backdrop for relaxing Calgon moments.

"The oversize bathroom is another element I took from resort design," says Shalev. "Hotel guests always look forward to this kind of indulgence."

An unmistakable tribute to nature can be found in the dining room by Kelley Flynn Interior Design ( www.kelleyflynn.com). Here an enchanting zinc-topped table for eight features a base made of two real tree trunks, painted white for a storybook effect. And, thanks to an east-facing array of full-height windows (heirlooms from the original architecture), the footprint of the chef's kitchen - a fresh vision of white subway tiles from Heath, Caesarstone countertops and custom walnut cabinetry - extends onto a new outdoor living area and garden.

There, Oakland landscape architect David Thorne interspersed plush lawns with edible plots planted with such herbs as rosemary and mint, and trees that bear lemons, figs and pomegranates. The man of the house, a bona fide bon vivant, incorporates these homegrown provisions into epicurean pursuits that range from canning fruits to smoking meats.

"I politely request that Aric conduct his culinary experimentation in the outdoor kitchen," says Shalev. "Since I'm usually the one who ends up cleaning, I prefer to have the mess outside."

Patio kitchen

The gastronomical center is a petite patio canteen equipped with gas burners, a barbecue grill and the mister's pride and joy, a Big Green Egg smoker. An outdoor living room and dining room, just a few feet away, are presided over by a statement-making hearth, a quintessential apparatus in the recent development of a friendly neighborhood ritual.

"All the kids around here know that our house is s'mores central," says Shalev of an emerging tradition that involves collecting fallen sticks from the garden to use as marshmallow spears. "If you build it, they will come, right?"